by Daria Steigman on July 6, 2010
Is your network deep or wide?
Tiger Woods‘ network is very wide–but it turns out it’s not very deep. Few top players turned up to play his tournament over the Fourth of July weekend. When Tiger, Inc., was at its height, the tournament was a who’s who of stars.
I heard one golf commentator state that players feel that Woods has never supported the PGA Tour. Sure, he made everyone a lot of money (including himself), but when was the last time you saw him play the Frys.com Open or the John Deere Classic?
Networks exist in many shapes and sizes. Most of us have a private network of family and close friends that’s walled off from our business selves. It’s deep, but not overly wide. Beyond that innermost circle, we have ever-wider ones of friends, then colleagues, then contacts.
The best networks are both wide and deep. You want breadth to be able to identify potential partners, new business opportunities, and step outside your own bubble. You want depth so that you have a network of friends and colleagues who have your back. How wide and deep our circles are depends on how we nurture them.
When Tiger Woods private life crashed into the open, it opened up the schisms in his network. So we see he may hit a golf ball brilliantly, but he has no well of goodwill among his professional circle.
What kind of network do you have?
Photo by ellenm1 (Flickr).
Tagged as:
Business,
networking,
Social Networking
by Daria Steigman on March 30, 2010
Second look is back. I’m highlighting 3 or 4 posts, surveys, and other news that I have read and/or tweeted about that you may not have seen. As the name implies, I think they deserve a second look.
- Small Talk Matters: We talk about the importance of networking, but how many of us do it well? John Baldoni offers some good tips for chatting up the boss (or anyone else). It’s all about preparation, personality (yours), and keen perception.
- Customer Service, Flight-Attendant Style: Watching flight attendants is a good way to learn about business, says Neil Patel in a useful post about customer service, rules, and the small things that make a difference.
- Interns vs. Assistants: Mary Deming Barber has a thoughtful guest post for Solo PR Pro that looks at how to get the most from (and for) your intern–and when you should be hiring an assistant instead.
- Texting and Philanthropy: “Rapid information sharing and [people-to-people] connections have already turned several major industries upside down. Philanthropy is next,” writes Timothy Ogden in a terrific post about how texting is transforming the way we give.
Photo by kudumomo (Flickr).
Tagged as:
Business,
Customer Service,
John Baldoni,
Mary Deming Barber,
mobile,
Neil Patel,
networking,
Timothy Ogden
by Daria Steigman on March 29, 2010
I was skimming through my LinkedIn Groups the other day, and one discussion thread jumped out at me: Are networking events worth the time? The originator was frustrated that his forays weren’t putting him in a room with the people he wanted to meet.
Like many people, he is missing the big picture: Networking doesn’t bring business. Networks do.
While I’ll certainly admit that some events prove a complete waste of time, most offer opportunities to meet interesting people. The job seeker he’s dismissing might just end up working at a place where you want to do business. That room full of vendors (hey, we’re all selling something) might yield your next partner or your next lead.
It’s very rare that you walk into a room of strangers and walk out with new business. But the connections you make today may just fill your pipeline over time.
Has this happened to you?
Photo by Matti Mattila (Flickr).
Tagged as:
LinkedIn,
networking
by Daria Steigman on October 5, 2009
by Daria Steigman on September 18, 2009
[Note: This post originally appeared on IABC's Communications World blog.]
I love that there’s an iPhone app that lets you exchange contact information just by bumping phones. But does this mean that business cards are becoming obsolete?
Business cards speak to me, especially when it comes to small businesses and solo practitioners. The paper, logo, design, and readability give me clues to a company’s personality and whether they have thought about that first impression. Whether someone does or doesn’t have a Web site and/or a customized e-mail address gives me some data about their permanence and their business sense. And please think twice before handing me a card with out-of-date information.
The Japanese have an entire ritual around business cards. While Americans are typically more informal, we might do well to probe the underlying reasons for the meishi exchange.
So what do you think? Do you decipher business cards or wish they’d go away?
On a related note, my friend Deborah Brody has a good post on business card dos and don’ts that has some common sense tips for making sure what you are handing out isn’t hindering your success.
Tagged as:
Business Cards,
Deborah Brody,
iPhone,
meishi,
networking,
The Bump
One of my favorite reasons for attending a conference is the opportunity to meet new people and expand my community.